Special Edition: North Market Fiery Fest

Well, we just returned home after a fun filled day of hot pepper-based goodness. Sampled MANY different hot sauces (picked up 3) and 3 hot pepper libations (and one non-spicy). There was also the hot wing competition, which i fared rather well in (6 rounds, 3 wings with each round, increasing in heat. I tapped out after the 5th round was over, mainly because I was stuffed and couldn't eat 6 more wings for the 6th round and the finals).
-Nathan-

So, let's begin our reviews/ flashbacks.

The cast: Big Mike & Trish, Jimmy, Jennie and Nathan (with Pat and Jess joining after the mead sampling).

As we were walking toward the upstairs (where the event was held), there was something that caught our eye. Barrel and Bottle. A beer and wine store in the North Market. Amazing staff, fantastic selection for being such a tiny booth.

In the opening of the booth, there was a rep from Brothers Drake Meadery We decided to try a sample of the Hot Shot and Est. 1812. Figured we'd step out of our norm of beer and experience ourselves with some locally made mead.


Brothers Drake "Hot Shot"

(picture from Belmont Party Supply's page as I couldn't find a picture of the bottle and wasn't thinking of taking a picture via my own phone)

The Hot Shot is a habanero honey mead that is a collaboration with CaJohn's (a hot sauce place in the North Market). Sounds interesting, huh. The little sample was amazing. It had the flavor of the habanero, but without the intensity of the heat. The pepper and honey blended well. It was sweet with a crisp pepper flavor, then the warming hit toward the back. Big Mike noted that his "balls were warm from this." Before this point, I hadn't had too many mead varieties. This was rather enjoyable, even a non-pepper head would most likely enjoy this.

4/5 caps

-Nathan-

Oh, Nathan, you little pepperhead, you're so cute... it was fairly intense with the heat of the habaneros. It had a lovely sweetish, honeyed start, then I coughed with the heat, which came as a bit of a surprise. I wasn't expecting that heat level in a honey mead. Don't get me wrong, it was delish, it just caught me off-guard. And yes, it warmed the body through. If you don't have a fair amount of heat tolerance, though, I don't know that you would enjoy it, and I would suggest one of their milder flavors.

4/5 caps

-Jennie

Brothers Drake "Est. 1812"

 (picture taken from Brothers Drake's website, as, again, I did not think of taking a picture of the bottle)

The Est. 1812 mead is an organic raspberry honey mead that pays tribute to the year Columbus, Ohio was founded. Makes sense as Brothers Drake is based out of here (at 5th and High, I believe it's Short North area). The color was a beautiful pink, clearly no head (as it's a honey wine). The flavor was amazing, raspberries with a some sweetness, but a nice dry finish. Worth checking out (really hoping to try their Dry Hopped mead soon).

4/5 caps

-Nathan-

Facepalm. Yes, Nathan, Brothers Drake is in the Short North. I loved this, even though my taste buds were still tingling from the Hot Shot. It was sweet, but not too sweet. The raspberries were an amazing complement to the honey. I don't often enjoy sweet wines, but this.... this is fantastic. They use natural, locally grown raspberries and honey, and it shows. We're scheduled to shoot an episode at the Meadery, and we're both stoked for it. I really wish we had picked up a bottle of this.

4.4/5 caps

-Jennie

We continued on our hot pepper adventure as we headed upstairs, where the festivities were happening. After sampling some different vendors (and purchasing local made hot sauces), we decided to hit up the beer selection. We were disheartened as Columbus Brewing Company's Habanero Bodhi has sold out. We were looking forward to trying that, as Bodhi is a fantastic brew, and only available on tap.  Elevator represented this year with two amazing selections; "Hot Brown" chipotle nut brown ale and "Three Hot Frogs" IPA, both brewed with peppers from CaJohn's. Pints were $4 and a 4oz sample was $1. Big Mike and Jimmy opted for the Three Hot Frogs, Trish opted for the Hot Brown, Jennie opted for a pint of the Hot Brown and a sample of the Three Hot Frogs, Nathan opted for a pint of Three Hot Frogs and sample of Hot Brown. While tasting the fantastic brews, Pat and Jess joined the group. Pat decided, after sampling, to get a pint of the Hot Brown.

Elevator "Hot Brown" Chipotle Nut Brown Ale

This was fantastic. The pour was darker than most nut brown ales that I've had, almost like a porter or stout sort of color. There was little head on this. The aroma was slightly smokey. The flavor was seriously fantastic. Hazelnut heavy nut brown with the smokiness of the chipotle peppers. The heat does not come through at all, just the smokey flavor. The smokey and nutty flavors blended in a tasty concoction of sheer brilliance that only the mad zymurgists of Elevator could come up with. I really hope they start bottling this, as this should be tasted by anyone who enjoys smokey flavors or brown ales.

4.4/5 caps
-Nathan-

I thought the color was appropriate for the style. I found the nose to be very mild, with very little smokiness to indicate the amazing concoction I was about to consume. My first sip showed a solid malt backbone, with some caramel flavors coming through. Then the hazelnuts hit, and my mouth was in love. And then the smokiness came through from the chipotle peppers. There was really no heat to this, but the smoky flavors from the pepper perfectly complemented the wonder that is usually Dick's Nut Brown Ale. If you've had Rogue's Chipotle Ale, I think this is a step or two even better. I can only hope that I don't have to wait another year to taste some more of this.

4.6/5 caps

-Jennie

Elevator "Three Hot Frogs" IPA

Wow. This beer.... This beer. Wow.
I already enjoyed the Three Frogs IPA from Elevator, but they ramped it up with this special batch. A combination of Jalapeno, Serrano, and Habanero peppers in a nice citrusy IPA, again, well played Dick and Vic. Typical IPA look when poured, nice ambery color. The nose gave some spice and fresh peppers, but still the citrusy, grapefruit tones of the hops. The flavor was interesting. I got the amazing IPA flavor, with some jalapeno and habanero flavors, without the heat. Big Mike got more serrano flavor in the taste. There was a bit of heat on the back end, but nothing overwhelming, I still noticed the grapefruit tones that lingered (again, like a good IPA), Jimmy thought it had more of a peppery aftertaste, and less grapefruit. Jimmy also noted that anyone could drink this. Again, Elevator should bottle this, this would sell like hot cakes. Hmm... Hot Cake IPA. I think I have an idea for another homebrew.

4.5/5
-Nathan-

You probably already know about our love affair with Three Frogs IPA. I need to go back and bump up my rating... I think I underrated it when we reviewed it. I love the way a hoppy beer will tame the heat when you're in the mood for some spicy food. I was a little nervous about this beer, because, while I enjoy some heat, I've been assaulted with their Ghost Scorpion Lager and had just had some hot-ish mead downstairs, and we had just sampled our way through the festival where I had consumed more scorpion peppers than I have to date. My mouth was on fire... I wasn't sure if a hot beer would tame my singed tastebuds or make them feel worse.

How wrong I was.

This beer is nothing shy of amazing. Sure, you get a whiff of jalapenos and serranos in the nose, as well as the noticeable hops. But the flavor... oh, the flavor. It was the perfect amount of heat to complement the perfect amount of hops. The heat increased as you finished the mouthful, but it was nothing intense or overpowering. The habaneros lent more of a sweet flavor than heat. You could tell they were there, but it wasn't brimming with capsaicin. And the heat and the hops complemented each other so perfectly, this is now one of my favorite IPA's. Really, guys, please don't make me wait another year to have this again. Please? Pretty please? With habaneros on top?

4.9/5 caps

-Jennie


The hot pepper adventure continued after the beer tasting as Big Mike and Nathan decided to enter the hot wing eating competition. 6 rounds of 3 wings per round, coated in sauce. The sauces increased in heat with each round. Nathan tapped out after the end of round 5 (finishing the Trinidad Scorpion wings), due to being uncomfortably stuffed, finishing in 8th place. Big Mike finished 6th place. There were roughly 25 people when the competition began. Here are some pictures.

                                                                    (before round one)

                                                                   (after round one)

                                                                   (after round two)

                                                               (finishing round three)

                                                                  (mid-round four)

                                                                   (mid-round five)

(the wings of round five, with copious amounts of Trinidad Scorpion peppers. Check the dust on the plate. They burned Jennie's skin just by passing by.)

Overall, it was a blast. We hope to see a lot of you there next February.







Note: We are PIONEERS! Currently (2/17/13 at 9pm) on BeerAdvocate 0 reviews for either Brothers Drake, Ratebeer has 3 for Est 1812 and 0 for Hot Shot. For the Elevator beers, 0 reviews on B.A. for either, Ratebeer has 1 for the chipotle nut brown and 0 for the Three Hot Frogs.